Malaysia has launched an inquiry after a video emerged
which apparently shows a police officer humiliating an ethnic Chinese
woman.
The clip, apparently filmed on a mobile phone,
purportedly shows the naked woman being forced to squat as she is watched
by a woman in uniform.
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the
incident was a severe blow to Malaysia's image.
It follows a number of complaints
against police by Chinese tourists.
A Malaysian delegation is due to travel to
China next week to mend relations between the two countries.
Outrage
Mr Najib said he took the matter seriously and
promised action against those responsible if the incident was genuine.
A Malaysian police spokesman said officers
were checking to see who made the recording and where it was filmed.
Interior Minister Azmi Khalid said the
incident should not have happened.
"If police personnel are really involved, then
this is police abuse," he said, quoted by the Reuters news agency.
The clip, thought to have been filmed on a
mobile phone, appears to show the prisoner and a female police officer.
The officer, who wears a Muslim headscarf,
stands in front of the woman, who is forced to strip naked, grasp her ears
and squat repeatedly.
The pictures are accompanied by the sound of
verses from the Koran being recited, although it is unclear if this would
have been audible to the woman.
The pictures were passed to an opposition
lawmaker who released them in the lobby of the Malaysian parliament.
Profiling
Mr Azmi is due to fly to Beijing next
Wednesday to placate the Chinese over the treatment of their tourists in
Malaysia.
There has been a marked drop in Chinese
tourists visiting Malaysia since reports of the alleged abuses surfaced.
A number of Chinese women have claimed they
were forced to strip in Malaysian police stations while being spied upon.
Malaysian immigration officers have also been
accused of profiling young female Chinese visitors as would-be
prostitutes.